Tinder Box : The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903 by Anthony P. Hatch (2005, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherChicago Review Press, Incorporated
ISBN-100897335147
ISBN-139780897335140
eBay Product ID (ePID)2342425

Product Key Features

Book TitleTinder Box : the Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903
Number of Pages250 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2005
TopicUnited States / 20th Century, Fire Science, Disasters & Disaster Relief, United States / State & Local / MidWest (IA, Il, in, Ks, Mi, MN, Mo, Nd, Ne, Oh, Sd, Wi)
IllustratorYes
GenreTechnology & Engineering, Social Science, History
AuthorAnthony P. Hatch
FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in
Item Weight17.8 Oz
Item Length9 in
Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2003-001841
Reviews"Working through eyewitness accounts, interviews with survivors and documents, Mr. Hatch takes us through the ordeal." - Wall Street Journal, "Working through eyewitness accounts, interviews with survivors and documents, Mr. Hatch takes us through the ordeal." -- Wall Street Journal
Dewey Edition21
Dewey Decimal977.3/11041
SynopsisThis the 100th anniversary of one of worst man-made disasters of the 20th century. When the Iroquois Theatre opened in Chicago on November 23, 1903, it was considered one of the grandest structures of its day, a monument to modern design and technology, as well as absolutely fireproof. This was a theatre that would rival any in New York or Paris. Instead it became the funeral pyre for hundreds of victims. Tony Hatch, former CBS reporter and Emmy Award winner, tells the grisly story in meticulous, riveting detail, based on more than forty years of research, including many exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses. In Tinder Box , he tells the Iroquois story as it has never been told before. In a rush to open the theatre on time, corners were cut, and the Iroquois lacked the most basic fire-fighting equipment: sprinklers, fire alarm boxes, backstage telephone, exit signs and functioning asbestos curtain. Some exists, for aesthetic reasons, were hidden behind heavy draperies, doors opened inward and exterior fire escapes were unfinished. But Chicago officials, the theatre owners and managers, the contractor, stagehands--all looked the other way. Then, on December 30, 1903, disaster struck. The theatre was packed, overcrowded with a standing-room-only audience, mostly women and children who had come to see the popular comedian Eddie Foy perform in the musical fantasy Mr. Bluebeard . A short circuit in a single backstage spotlight touched off a small fire that, in minutes, erupted into an uncontrollable blaze. More than 600 people died. Because of the magnitude of the catastrophe and the obvious corruption that allowed it to happen, building and fire laws were changed to prevent it everhappening again. Tinder Box is a riveting history of a traumatic and costly calamity., This the 100th anniversary of one of worst man-made disasters of the 20th century. When the Iroquois Theatre opened in Chicago on November 23, 1903, it was considered one of the grandest structures of its day, a monument to modern design and technology, as well as "absolutely fireproof." This was a theatre that would rival any in New York or Paris. Instead it became the funeral pyre for hundreds of victims. Tony Hatch, former CBS reporter and Emmy Award winner, tells the grisly story in meticulous, riveting detail, based on more than forty years of research, including many exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses. In Tinder Box , he tells the Iroquois story as it has never been told before. In a rush to open the theatre on time, corners were cut, and the Iroquois lacked the most basic fire-fighting equipment: sprinklers, fire alarm boxes, backstage telephone, exit signs and functioning asbestos curtain. Some exists, for aesthetic reasons, were hidden behind heavy draperies, doors opened inward and exterior fire escapes were unfinished. But Chicago officials, the theatre owners and managers, the contractor, stagehands--all looked the other way. Then, on December 30, 1903, disaster struck. The theatre was packed, overcrowded with a standing-room-only audience, mostly women and children who had come to see the popular comedian Eddie Foy perform in the musical fantasy Mr. Bluebeard . A short circuit in a single backstage spotlight touched off a small fire that, in minutes, erupted into an uncontrollable blaze. More than 600 people died. Because of the magnitude of the catastrophe and the obvious corruption that allowed it to happen, building and fire laws were changed to prevent it everhappening again. Tinder Box is a riveting history of a traumatic and costly calamity.
LC Classification NumberF548.5.H36 2003

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